The Value of Friendship
by Da Games Elite
Summary: Osaka runs into Chiyo-chan on the road one day. Chiyo-chan asks her about autism, but Osaka gets thinking about her mother, her old life, and how it has changed since then. Will continue if feedback is good.


Hiya! I decided, after binging on Azumanga Daioh, to release this little story. I may add more entries if this is well received. For now, let's just enjoy this little entry…

**The Value of Friendship**

**By Da Games Elite**

**IN THE CASE OF AYUMU**

"So whaddya doin' right now, Chiyo-chan?" Osaka called across the street, slowly drawing out each word as if she enjoyed the mere flavor of each word on her tongue. Flavor, that made her hungry thinking about that sort of stuff. She wondered if it was possible she could get something to nibble on before going to Chiyo's, or maybe there'd be something nice to eat at her place. Actually, she was a fair bit hungrier than she had expected. No, she was jumping the gun a little, seeing as how she had only just run into the girl. It'd be rude to just invite herself over like that.

Chiyo-chan was standing across the street, riding that big ol' dog of hers. Osaka wanted to squeal in delight looking at her, but all that came out was a goofy giggle, her feelings trapped inside her chest, struggling to free themselves. She never could get her thoughts out well in her spoken words. All that which she couldn't articulate would just build up pressure inside of her like a volcano or something. She wondered if that might just, one day, make her blow up into a trail of molten lava. She hoped that every-

"Oh, hi Osaka!" Chiyo-chan waved over at her, a smile on her lips. "I was just going to get some food for my breakfast tomorrow. Would you like to come along with me?"

"Oh, would I!" Osaka giggled, following Chiyo-chan behind that big ol' dog of hers. It looked almost like a hero of some kind in one of them epic fantasy films. Reminded her of that other fantasy creature, from that story about those kids who went into that clothing thing to go to that other place. She couldn't recall the name. Started with an "m" if she was correct. Marina, was it? Yeah, that's it! "Hey, Chiyo-chan, where do ya find marina?"

"You mean a marina? Usually by the coast, I'd figure. Why?"

The coast? Surely that must be where they sold wardrobes. That had to be it. But what about them were so special where you'd only make wardrobes there? "Now why'd you go ahead and make wardrobes there?"

The moment Osaka said that, she knew she had gone and done something foolish again. Chiyo-chan was giving her a look that really made it clear she didn't have a darn clue what she was talkin' about. Osaka felt her face grow warm with embarrassment as Chiyo struggled to understand what Osaka was talkin' about. All she could do was smile, since she wasn't exactly sure how else to respond at a time like this. For a genius, Chiyo-chan could sometimes be pretty slow catchin' up to her own thought processes.

This reminded her of what her mama had told her a few weeks before moving to her new home. She remembered her mother, standin' over her like she was in charge of something important, almost as if she were a judge of some kind like in a court room drama. "Ayumu, you need to make sure that people understand what you're talking about all the time. Just because you know what you're thinking doesn't mean the rest of the world follows on your wavelength."

"But what if they do?" Ayumu had replied, smiling as she contemplated the goofy idea that someone couldn't see the world her way. Was there something wrong with their eyes that they couldn't see the globe quite right?

"Well, then, that's a very rare case." Why was her mama hesitating when she said that? She looked kinda sweaty. Was she hot? She recalled it being early in the year, like a January, so maybe there was something wrong with the heater. Osaka, at least, wished she could blame the heater for her mama's sweatiness. She knew why she looked so upset, why she wasn't making eye contact with little Ayumu when she went ahead and said that. Osaka knew, but Ayumu didn't.

It was almost like there were two people in her head, fighting for control on how she saw herself.

No one in her new school ever met Ayumu.

Not really, anyway.

"Say, Osaka," Chiyo-chan asked, slowly and cautiously choosing her words, "I was reading this book on mental health, you know, for a class, and I realized something."

Osaka glanced over, smiling friendly, "What was that, Chiyo-chan?"

Again, Chiyo-chan took time choosing her words. Her brow was sweaty, just like mama's was all that time ago. She felt her stomach get all scrunchy, as if someone were wringing it dry if the dryer broke. "I was reading about something called autism, and, well, Osaka, have you ever heard of it?"

"Oh yeah," Osaka replied, smiling. She had heard that word thrown around by her parents dozens of times. She tried to recall the exact context of the word. She remembered one time where her parents were downstairs in the kitchen, not that long before they moved, and her mom was getting all teary-eyed about something really odd. Ayumu had been eavesdropping from behind the railing, and she had heard snippets of what they said. If her memory was right, she remembered her mom making a comment about her school's teachers not doing their job right, and not reading up on Ayumu's records. She recalled hearing how her mother was sayin' that the teachers weren't teaching Ayumu a specific way, and the reason she had to be taught that specific way was because of autism. So maybe autism was this sort of teaching school that teachers went to, like a college or something. "Do you think Miss Yukari and Nyamo went to Autism?"

"I-what?" Chiyo-chan queried, raising an eyebrow, "Osaka, autism isn't a place. It's a condition of the mind. It's just I'm a little worried about you, Osaka."

"Don't be wor-owies!" Osaka, in her conversation, walked right into that darn light pole. She felt a pain surge up her nose for a moment or two before she staggered several paces backward. Chiyo-chan on top of her Marina dog drew back, and came to her side to see if she was fine. "I'm fine, Chiyo-!" Osaka declared, a little harsher than she had intended. She felt bad. She didn't want to hurt Chiyo's feelings by sounding more intense like that. She hated it when the kids at school talked to her like that, so she couldn't imagine how a little girl like Chiyo-chan would feel.

"Okay, good. Anyway, Osaka, do you know if you have autism?"

"I don't think I own a college," Osaka said, honestly.

"Uh, no, I mean, do you think you have autism?"

Osaka must've been mistaken. Maybe autism was a disease! Those kids at school were always stuff about her being flakey and having some sort of disease. They called her something called retard, which she knew was a term for someone who was pretty slow. She never asked her parents about being retarded, but she assumed she had to be. She didn't think Tomo or Kagura were retarded, seeing as how they knew things Osaka never could know, like how to read people's' emotions by looking at their faces, or say what they wanted to say when and how they chose to say it. "Does it involve saying things right?"

"Well, sometimes. It's' just a different way of thinking."

"That's what my mama always said!" Osaka said, smiling cheerfully.

"Right, well, Osaka, actually now I'm a little curious. I really don't know a lot about your house," Chiyo-chan said, "I've had you over a dozen times. Can I come over your place some time?"

"Sure!" Osaka replied, cheerfully, "I just hope you don't like bread!"

"Huh?"

"I'm on this diet, ya see. Not like what Yomi has, but it's a no glutton or dairy free diet!"

"You mean gluten, right?"

"Is there really much a difference?" Osaka asked, smiling goofily still, but then considering what the difference between the two could be. Maybe glutton was gluten's brother or something, and glutton ate gluten alive! Random, yes, but she could almost visualize it. It was a pretty harsh sight, what with all the blood and all. She was going to question Chiyo-chan about it, but she was too young for that sorta thing. "So yeah, gluten's all like grain and stuff. My mama insists it makes me slower, but I have some anyway when I can just because I can and it's fun to eat!"

"I agree! But, Osaka, your mom probably knows a lot about autism. Have you ever asked her about your condition?"

"Condition?" Whenever a doctor always mentioned a condition on one of them dramas, things always got serious. They'd find some sort of deadly tumor in a guy's belly or someone was dying from a gunshot wound to the right kidney. Either that or they'd be givin' her an option about something. The kids would always give her a condition like that. If Ayumu told no one about them all stealing something from her, they wouldn't tell the teacher that it was her who had dumped paint all over the teacher's new car. It never was her, of course, but the teachers didn't' know that. Ayumu would usually come home, never eating lunch and never with all her pencils in her bag. Maybe that was why she didn't grow boobs, not enough food to develop 'em. "Is that why I don't grow no boobs?"

"Autism doesn't affect the body. I dunno, but, Osaka, I just want you to know it's okay if you are autistic. I don't care. You're still my friend, right?"

"Right!" Osaka said, genuinely glad she knew someone like Chiyo-chan, "You're the first friends I ever had. Ya know, when I first came here, my mama didn't want me in Miss Yukari's class."

"Really? Why not?"

"Well, she kept sayin' how the teacher was bad for me and wouldn't help me learn. She wanted me in some self-contained class. I refused, though, because I was having too much fun with all of y'all. Y'all my best friends, and I couldn't just let y'all go like that, ya know?"

Chiyo-chan glanced up at Osaka, wide eyed for a moment or two, before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I understand, Osaka!"

"Thanks, Chiyo."

#

Sorry for it being so short. I just wrote this in like 15 minutes at midnight. Please give feedback if you can, and, if the response is strong enough, be it positive or negative response (I like criticism more than just saying how everything I write is a work of art), I'll add another chapter, maybe not exclusively about Osaka. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it!


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